Essential improvement work on the A3290 Suttons flyover is due to start at the end of next month to coincide with the school Easter holidays.

Work which starts on Sunday, March 29, will replace the flyover’s noisy joints, improve drainage, install longer lasting safety barriers and give the road a low noise surface. It will also mean the bridge should not need significant maintenance for some time.

In a bid to minimise traffic disruption, the work is being split into two phases with work starting one side of the flyover at Easter and the other side not starting, because of funding, until 2017.

Work on the first phase is expected to take up to three weeks and be finished by April 16.

To ensure two lanes of traffic keep moving at all times, a contraflow will direct vehicles on to the northbound side of the flyover allowing engineers to work 24/7 on the southbound side.

This way of working by splitting the project into phases during holiday periods mirrors the approach used on Wokingham Borough Council’s Loddon Viaduct scheme last summer, where delays were avoided. The second part of that project is scheduled for this July and August.

The four slip roads feeding the Suttons Roundabout on the A4 London Road below the flyover will remain open.

The borough council says this work is essential to upgrade this 25-year-old flyover, which is suffering from wear and tear now beyond the scope of regular maintenance.

Councillor John Kaiser, executive member for planning and highways, said: “The waterproofing and joints are reaching the end of their design life on this bridge, and we’re spending more time doing repairs. We’re at that point where it’s becoming a waste of public resources to simply keep patching it up.

“Worst case scenario is being left with no choice but to close the whole flyover to do unplanned emergency repairs. This is why we’ve designed this work to coincide with schools holidays, as well as traffic measures that have already proved they help keep things moving.”

Wokingham Borough Council is working closely with Thames Valley Park to help the businesses on the site consider alternative travel options during the project, such as car sharing, staggering working hours or working from home.

About 20,000 letters to surrounding residents and businesses are also due to be sent out by the council in the next few weeks.

The Suttons flyover spans and provides access to the Suttons roundabout, forms part of the A3290 in Earley and is the only route into the Thames Valley Park. It also connects to the A329M.

The latest traffic conditions across the borough are available by signing up to the council’s text and email alerts at www.wokingham.gov.uk/register.